31 pieces of spellbinding Wicked concept art, from flying monkeys to the epic Emerald City

Wicked has already smashed it at the box office, earning over $718 million, and has been nominated in many categories for the Oscars 2025, including Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design and Best Picture. But what did Wicked look like before its magical VFX was applied?

Below you can see how the spellbinding VFX was created in its earliest iterations, as ILM has shared over 30 beautiful pieces of concept art with us. These paintings were created using the best digital art software and the best 3D modelling software, before 3D artists, animators, matte painters and more turned took inspiration from them for the film's final scenes.

Scroll below to see all the concept art from Wicked, including early iterations of the film's famous flying monkeys and visions of Emerald City, Oz and more. If you need more inspiration read our Best Digital Art and Best 3D Art features. If you want to work in VFX, filmmaking or even at a studio like ILM, read our interview with Framestore about how to get into the industry and our insightful piece on how to get a job at ILM.

Wicked concept art blast